Galesburg Register-Mail from Galesburg, Illinois · Page 1

Home Paptr of n commuflltiti Partly Cloudy Tonight Low 50*1 Showers Thursday High 70'* A B*tt§rPtempaper GAlESBURG, ILLINOIS 61401 ~- WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1973 VOLUME LXXXM 122 PRICE TEN CENTS Clemency Of f er Inspired By 'Loyalty to President' John Caulfield: Clemency Offers Nixon Limited Bug Probe WASHINGTON (U P I) President Nixon disclosed for the first time Tuesday he had ordered his two top aides, H. R. Haldeman and John D. Erlieh-. man, to limit the Watergate investigation. ' He said he did it to protect highly, 'jt'W'to i ti ve "national security operations" being conducted by the' CIA and fie White House and hot to Impede ^But ^l^^^^^Kf his aides probably went beyond his directives and attempted to hide illegal activities which they and others had undertaken in his behalf. Nixon also revealed that he was so concerned about leaks of sensitive government secrets and domestic violence in 1970 that he approved a plan allowing federal agents to but wtUjdrtw .'the/ j>l|nv because of objections from then FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. The disclosures came in an 8- page statement in which Nixon admitted—also for the first time—that other "unethical as well as illegal activities" were committed by his supporters during the 1972 campaign. He firmly denied any person al >wrongdoing beyond a failure to be more vigilant in preventing them. , s By MATTHEW T. KENNY SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (UPI) — A business associate of financier Robert Vesco said today fihat disclosure of all details in a case 'that led to the resignation of G. Bradford Cook as chairman of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) "will startle the world" and destroy investor confidence in U.S. securities around the world. Cook resigned last Wednesday following allegations that he deleted all references to a secret $200,000 contribution to President Nixon's reelection campaign from an SEC complaint against Vesco. Norman P. LeBlanc, a Canadian citizen once identified by the SEC as an officer in several subsidiaries of the huge Investors Overseas Services, Ltd., (IOS) mutual fund complex founded by, Bernard Cornfield, also/ referred in hi9 statement today to an SEC suit filed' last Nov. 27 against himself, Vesco and 39 other persons and companies. "The full disclosure of the circumstances that forced the resignation of G. Bradford Cook will startle the world in what will be known as the biggest scandal that ever rocked a U.S. government agency and will destroy investor confidence in U.S. securities throughout the world," LeBlanc said. LeBlanc's statement named recently dismissed presidential counsel John Dean in, William Casey, and several members of the SEC including Cook, Irving Pollack, Stanley , Sporkin and "perhaps other officials of the SEC unknown to me." Casey preceded Cook as chairman of the SEC. Pollack has been a member of the SEC since 1946 but Sporkin was not immediately identified. "It is relevant to note that Cook, Sporkin and others apparently have withheld extensive documentation that prove these facts from, the U.S. Senate, the New York grand jury and the federal court hearing the (SEC) case. WASHINGTON (UPI) - An ex-White House staffer testified today he felt he was "doing something for the President" when he relayed offers of executive clemency to Watergate conspirator James W. McCord Jr., and that he believed President Nixon knew he was making such offers. John J. Caulfield, testifying for a second day at the televised Senate Watergate hearings, said he knew his actions were wrong but that his "loyalty to the President of the Scott Predicts Senate Okay Of Richardson WASHINGTON (UPI) - The Senate Judiciary Committee prepared today to give its delayed approval to Elliot L. Richardson's nomination as attorney general after getting what Sen. Hugh Scott, R-Pa., called "a chance to contrast a thief and a Harvard man." Scott predicted the favorable action on Richardson at a closed committee meeting this afternoon, now that the members had heard more testimony after recalling him unexpected- 1 ly Tuesday because some of j them had received telephone calls from Daniel Ellsberg. Scott, who had been clearly angry over the delay in the Richardson vote originally scheduled Tuesday, did not mention Ellsberg by name. But there was no question he was talking about the Pentagon Papers defendant in referring to "a thief." United States overrode these considerations." Caulfield emphasized that he had "no direct knowledge" that Nixon was aware he relayed offers of clemency to McCord at three meetings last January while McCord was on trial for the bugging of Democratic National Ctomimittee headquarters last June. Under questioning by Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr., R-Conn., Caulfield stressed that he felt he "was doing something for the President of the United States." Nixon said again Tuesday that he never made any clemency offers or authorized anyone else to make them in his behalf to Watergate defendants. Caulfield said he had been asked to relay the clemency promises to his old friend McCord by then -White House Counsel John W. Dean III, who he said told him to tell McCord the offers were sincere and oame from "the highest levels" of the White House. Caulfield said he believed Dean was acting with proper authority —which could only come from Nixon himself. The former White House aide said Dean's request plunged him into a deep personal conflict between loyalty to the White House and having to do what he knew was wrong —a criminal act to obstruct justice. Caulfield then said he was wracked with conflict over his role in the alleged offers of clemency. "I know when wrongdoing is occurring. I knew that (using) executive clemency in this matter was wrong," he said. But, he added, "Loyalty to the President of the United States overrode those considerations." Caulfield testified Tuesday that Dean told him last January to tell McCord, one of the seven men then on trial for the bugging of Democratic party headquarters last June, (that the clemency offers came from "way at the top." "What did you conceive 'way at the top' to be?" Sen. Joseph M. Montoya, D-N.M., a member of the Senate committee, asked Caulfield. "In my mind, I believed he was talking about the President," Caulfield replied. "At no time did I authorize any .offer of executive clemency for the Watergate defendants, nor did I know of any such offer," Nixon said in a statement Tuesday Where to Find It 4 SECTIONS Abingdon — 34 Amusement 8 Bushnell 10 Classified Ads 35-36-37-38-39 Comics-Radio — 16 Editorial 4 Food Section 21-31 Galva 10 40 PAGES Knoxville 34 Markets 32 Monmouth 17 Obituary 11 Sports - 18-19 Weather 2 Women in the News ..13-14 Practice Session Skylab Commander Charles "Pete" Conrad is helped into the neutral buoyancy simulator at Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala., by center technicians. Conrad and the other members of the prime crew of Skylab II have been working out at the simulator learning how to install a sunshield on the orbiting space laboratory. UNIFAX Ellsberg had told at least two committee members that Richardson had not told everything during the hearings about what he knew of CIA involvement in the burglary of the office of Ellsberg's psychiatrist. Astronauts 9 Countdown Begins CAPE KENNEDY (UPI) The countdown resumed today for the launch of three astronauts Friday in an effort [to repair the hot, power-starved Skylab space station and turn it into a livable home for nine men this year. The emergency sun shades and debris clearing tools the pilots will carry into space were due here this afternoon to be stowed in the cabin of their Apollo ferry ship-turned-repair truck. Medical Exams Charles "Pete" Conrad, Joseph P. Kerwin and Paul J. Weitz will inspect the new equipment after their complete final, morninglong pre-launch medical examinations. The countdown toward the 9 a.m. EDT lift off time Friday started at 5:30 a.m. It was halted eight hours after the unmanned launch of Skylab May 14, when it was clear the eight-room space house could not be occupied without extraordinary repairs in orbit. The countdown originally was to begin Tuesday night but launch officials delayed it nine hours to conserve battery power in the 22-story tall Saturn IB rocket. One of the first operations today was to install the batteries and check the machine's electrical system. Victory Roll The three astronauts flew to the spaceport Tuesday night and showed their optimism by piloting their two white jets on a sharp maneuver airmen call a "half victory roll" before landing. The optimism was shared by William C. Schneider, director of the $2.6 billion space research project. He said in a report from Huntsville, Ala., that preparations for the historic salvage mission were on schedule a"nd that the astronauts' crash repair training program had gone well. "It has given us confidence that we are go for a Friday launch," he said. If the three astraonuts can mend Skylab, they will stay up for 28 days to carry out most of the medical, scientific and engineering experiments assigned to the mission. There is still hope among project leaders that two more three-man crews will be able to follow and stay aboard Skylab even longer. Temperatures Stable Skylab is circling earth 271 miles high every 93 minutes. Flight controllers in Houston, frequently changing Skylab's position in relation to the sun ,by radio control, have stabilized the temperature extremes in the station's main living area, which faces the sun, and in the shaded forward section. As now planned the three astronauts will inspect Skylab after rendezvousing with it late Friday afternoon and show television viewers on earth how it looks. The pilots plan to enter the main work area Saturday to raise through an airlock a large umbrella to shade the ship. Temperatures are expected to fall from the 120s to the 70s within 12 hours after the shade is erected. Once the heat problems have been solved, the astronauts will turn to Skylab's energy crisis. Two of the six wing-like panels, that convert sunlight into electricity are stuck and the crewmen hope to free one of them by nudging it open with long rods extended from the open hatch of the Apollo. House Undecided on Veto Olds Find Sanctuary Owls are apparently wise enough to find a hideaway and these picked the home of Joseph Hoort, Grand Rapids, Mich. A bill in the Michigan Senate allows falconers to take hawks and owls. The Michigan Audubon Society announced Tuesday it is opposed to the bill. The owls have moved into the yard, windowsills and trees and the Hoort family doesn't mind- but the family dog doesn't give a hoot about the visitors. WASHINGTON (UPI) House members appeared reluctant today to join the Senate in overriding President Nixon's veto of a measure that would subject the administration's two top budget makers to Senate confirmation. The House leadership was undecided whether to bring the veto to the floor for a vote today or delay it until Thursday, or possibly even wait until after the brief Memorial Day recess. The Senate voted, 62-22, Tuesday to override the veto of a bill which would require the current director and deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to receive Senate confirmation. Support Grows Support for the override grew out of congressional anger over the refusals of OMB Director Roy Ash and Deputy Frederic Malek and their predecessors to spend funds for programs appropriated by Congress. Neither Rep. Chet Holifield, D-Oalif., House floor manager for the bill, nor Rep. Frank Horton, R-N.Y., manager against it, foresaw a vote much different than the partisan 229171 vote for original passage in the House. A two-thirds vote is necessary by each house to override a veto. Only 145 votes are needed in the House with all 434 members present to sustain a veto. Each body already has voted to sustain one veto this year. "I assume most of those who are here will vote as they did before," Horton said. "I haven't heard of anybody faltering." Holifield said he had "no reason to believe that the votes will be much different over here." Chances Seem Slim Asked Tuesday what he thought the chances' were, Speaker Carl Albert said: "it would be very difficult." Although some senators said they thought the strong vote to override Tuesday was influenced in part by the Watergate scandal, Horton and Holifield discounted the effect. "I would hope that Watergate and that attitude would not operate here," Horton said. "I think Congress should be a deliberative body (and) ought not to get involved in the emotions as they occur." The bill as passed would abolish the two top OMB jobs, but recreate them immediately with the appointees and any j future appointees subject to Senate confirmation as are all Cabinet officers.